UBS in revival mode, to focus on transaction banking space

MUMBAI: Swiss bank UBS AG plans to set up transaction banking capabilities in India as part of its strategy to reorganise its business model, said its new head Aashish Kamat.

"In India, we realise a strong corporate banking model carries more weight. We are going to set up transaction banking capab ility, which mitigates you from the credit perspective," Kamat, managing director and group CEO, India, UBS AG, told ET in an interview.

Kamath, who is three months into his new assignment, is faced with the challenge of getting fresh mandates and attracting new talent.

"During the crisis, we have seen that the boring part of lending and transaction banking have faired well. We just want to offer that as a base and then get into investment banking," he said.

"Many firms that operate in this (investment banking) space can make a mistake of making it a one-person show against a franchise show," he said. The bank aims at leveraging relations with Swiss firms that are looking at doing business with Indian companies and vice versa, he said.

However, UBS would be faced with stiff competition in transaction banking space, which is crowded with peers such as Citibank, Standard Chartered Bank, HSBC and other private sector banks.

UBS also wants to strengthen its wealth management business in India and has applied for an advisory licence.

Kamath took over from Manisha Girotra, who quit the firm in November last year. Apart from Girotra, the bank has seen other senior management exits like Purvesh Shah, global head of capital markets, and Ganeshan Murugaiyan, head of investment banking. The bank dropped to 15th place in advising on mergers involving Indian companies this year from fifth in the same period a year earlier, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

"These exits have nothing to do with me. To me, change is good and brings in different perspective," said Kamath.